Although I submitted a short story to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, my primary goal was not to seek accolades but to participate in something greater than myself. Therefore, it was not surprising when my story did not make the shortlist.
Many organizations and nations strive to establish credibility by feigning concern for humanity. Their proclaimed solidarity with suffering individuals, such as the people of Ukraine, often serves as a display of this effort.
The judges themselves openly acknowledged that the chosen winners tackled "weighty" subjects. My perceived "mistake" stems from crafting a "light-hearted" tale of love and romance between a Maldivian girl and boy, a narrative that evidently fell short of meeting the Commonwealth Short Story Prize judges' expectations of being "weighty" enough.
Below is an email I received from the Commonwealth Foundation yesterday:
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Hello Ismail,
Last week, Hana Gammon, Agnes Chew, Rue Baldry, Kwame McPherson and Himali McInnes were announced as regional winners of the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Now you can read their winning stories on Granta.
The winning stories address a rich diversity of themes: from exploitation to subversive acts of rebellion, cultural displacement, the balance of life and death, the world of adults as viewed by children, and the pull of family ties across the globe and through the generations.
Read all the winning stories
The winning writers tackle painful themes unflinchingly and show how love and human warmth can thrive in the most unlikely of places.
The judging panel remarked on the strong sense of place in all the stories—with locations featuring a building site in Britain, a German oncology clinic ‘oceans away’ from the narrator’s homeland, and a war-torn town in Sri Lanka.
The international judging panel chose the five winning stories from a shortlist of 28, after 6,642 writers submitted to the prize.
Here is a glimpse of what you can expect from each story and the judges' explanation of what they found to be so gripping:
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'The Undertaker’s Apprentice' - Hana Gammon (Africa)
The story of a group of children and their interactions with their small town’s sombre but kind mortician. As they grow up, they are forced to question issues of growth, decay and exchange between different states of being.
‘A carefully observed, patiently narrated and exquisitely written story about youth and the ways in which we come to adulthood through loss and death.'
-- Rémy Ngamije (Judge, Africa region)
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'Oceans Away From My Homeland' - Agnes Chew (Asia)
A woman’s struggle to confront the perceived changes in her life—both of and beyond her own making.
‘In the end it is a very human story that tackles migration, language, displacement, fear and hope and, most importantly of all, love. This was a gem of a story for me.’
-- Ameena Hussein (Judge, Asia region)
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'Lech, Prince, and the Nice Things' - Rue Baldry (Canada and Europe)
A young, Black plasterer, drawn to committing petty acts of revenge against his employer’s neglected possessions, risks becoming more diminished than those status symbols.
‘A genuinely surprising and unexpectedly moving story that explores such weighty–and relevant–topics as racism, classism and inequality in modern-day Britain.’
-- Katrina Best (Judge, Canada and Europe region)
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'Ocoee' - Kwame McPherson (Caribbean)
An interweaving of African American reality and history, and Caribbean folklore.
‘A simple tale retold in a surreal atmosphere of creative uneasiness. Images awake in the subconscious and, without pointing fingers, remind of man’s inhumanity to man.’
--Mac Donald Dixon (Judge, Caribbean region)
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'Kilinochchi' - Himali McInnes (Pacific)
Set during a particularly bloody time in Sri Lanka’s civil war, the protagonist, an up-country Tamil tea-picker who comes from a long line of indentured labourers, goes in search for her son.
‘An unforgettable story that explores family loyalty, gender, class and social inequality, war, life in diaspora, and our fundamental need to belong.’
-- Dr. Selina Tusitala Marsh (Judge, Pacific region)
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Granta’s Luke Neima says, ‘we're thrilled to be publishing the regional winners. Year after year the prize has put a spotlight on extraordinary new talents working across the Commonwealth, and this cohort is one of exceptional promise.'
The 2023 overall winner will be announced in an online ceremony at 12pm UCT on Tuesday 27 June.
We hope to see you there.
Best wishes,
The Short Story Prize team
Commonwealth Foundation
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